


London 15:01

by raexrae57



Series: Out of the Dark Universe [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - MAMA (Music Video), Alternate Universe - Pathcode Teasers, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 10:38:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7219126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raexrae57/pseuds/raexrae57
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's been walking around for hours.</p>
            </blockquote>





	London 15:01

**Author's Note:**

> First one-shot in my Out of the Dark universe. Can stand alone, but I'd recommend you read Out of the Dark first.

**London 15:01**

 

He's been walking around for hours.

 

Upstairs.  Through this mall.  Downstairs.  On this subway.  Deeper into the heart of London.  He can't get away though.  The camera continues to shutter off behind him, and he knows he's being followed.  They have people all over this city, but it's too dangerous to move.  There are too many people around.  Too many witnesses.  Factor in the camera and then there would be proof.  Zitao had already warned him about the newspaper in Barcelona a month ago, so he knows he has to lay even lower than he already was.

 

But they're everywhere.  No matter where he goes in this crowded city there is someone behind him ready with a camera, waiting for him to slip up.  He's smarter than that though.  His traveling came to a halt after he landed in London a month ago, energy depleated and body not far behind, after figuring it out in Barcelona.  He's told no one and won't until he can pinpoint the exact thing that's keeping him from regenerating.  The camera clicks again, and this time he looks over his shoulder at the man as the last several months replay through his mind like they always do. 

 

It started with a minor headache, jumping from Arizona to Colorado to check on Chanyeol and Kyungsoo before stopping in New York for some downtime of his own.  His first stop was a pharmacy for some aspirin before wandering the streets of Queens.  He'd traveled longer before without any consequences, save for the accident in Vancouver a year ago.  He shuddered thinking about it, the weight of moving nine extra bodies out of the labyrinth and depositing them in safe locations took a huge toll on him, and in turn, was deadly for the people at the event he ended up crashing.  He still doesn't know how he ended up in that particular spot, but when he woke up to bodies all around him, he panicked and ran.

 

It was easy, safe, to replenish his energy surrounded by others like him, surrounded by the other eleven, but deadly if too much is taken from a normal human.

 

He traveled less after that, and once the connection snapped, once Lu Han and Yifan were no longer a part of their twelve, the traveling became infrequent.  He'd pop over to other cities to check on the others, but because of the first headache in Queens he knew something was up.

 

He stayed in Queens for a week before phasing into Lyon to check on Baekhyun and to relay a message on from Chanyeol.  Another long distance, another couple aspirin taken.  Baekhyun had questioned him about it, but he brushed it off.  Fatigue, he had said.

 

Shorter, he thought, as he traveled to Marseilles to Joonmyun after a week in Lyon.  Another two aspirin, plus one more as the pain increase despite the short distance.  Joonmyun mothered him, he always did, and convinced him to stay two weeks to recover.  You need to take it easy, he said.  So he did.  One week bled into two, and even being by his leader didn't make the tense in his chest go away.  The headache finally subsided, but the lingering emptyness was something he wasn't sure about.  He kept it to himself though.  The last thing he wanted to do was make Joonmyun worry while everyone was supposed to lay low.

 

A little further this time.  He had traveled multiple times to Edinburgh without consequence, maybe this time would be the same.  He landed a little rougher than normal, dropping to his knees as the pain in his head intensified.  Sehun rushed out to him, picked him up and supported him inside where he was staying.  Four more aspirin.  He curled up on Sehun's couch and slept until the pain went away, waking up hours later to the smell of food and a concerned Sehun.  He's been traveling a lot, he said, it's just fatigue.  They ate in silence, Sehun mentioning here and there about marking points on the map on his phone.  Leads to a lot of nothing, he said, but maybe...

 

He gently reminds Sehun that they're gone, and Sehun reminds him that he still wants answers anyways.  They all do.

 

He only stays a few days before checking on Jongdae in Almaty.  It's also a rough landing, and all the aspirin in the world couldn't help his migraine.  He retches his stomach contents on the pavement and nudges Jongdae away as he collects his barrings.  This is the worst he's felt yet, and even being around people like him, people who he knows is safe to take energy from without them noticing, he hasn't felt any better.

 

His body is turning against him, punishing him every time he moves across the planet in the blink of an eye.  He stands up straight with Jongdae's assistance and move so he can lay down and try to recover energy he now knows he's not going to get back.  He doesn't understand what's different, doesn't understand what's changed except for the fact that they are no longer together as a group.  Even still, they've been apart for longer and he's been able to siphon energy in the past.  Why now?  What's changed?

 

Jongdae helps him into the shower, helping him wash off the grime of travel and the reminants of vomit and provides him clothes to relax in.  Jongdae's also mothering him, a quality he had gained from being around Joonmyun too much, but in his weakened state he can't seem to mind.

 

"You look like shit."  
He snorts.  "Thanks."

 

They catch up, Jongdae mentioning how he likes being surrounded by stone.  It was easier to keep him grounded and keep the electricity at bay.  He nods in understanding, but when Jongdae brings up the vomitting he puts the blame on food poisoning.  The migraine is tolerable now, but he stays in Almaty for a week and a half before popping off to Yunnan.

 

Yixing is suspicious the minute he appears and runs to the bathroom to vomit.  He's ready with a glass of water when he stumbles out of the bathroom and when he takes the glass Yixing's hands are on him.  They're warm with Yixing's power, but they do nothing to repair the damage he's already done.  He keeps taking though, keeps bouncing from location to location.  He needs to check on everyone.  He's the only one who can do it quickly enough.  It's risky, but he has to do it.

 

"How long have you been traveling?"  Yixing's question is laced with concern.  
"About two months," he answering, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.  "I have two more stops after this and then I'll lay low."  
"Non-stop?  Jongin, this can't be good for you."  
Jongin shrugged.  "I just have Minseok and Zitao left, and then I'm staying in London.  I can recover there."  
"You know everyone's called me, right?"  Jongin curses as Yixing smiles down at him.  "They're all concerned.  Normally we're the only ones who get sick after we travel with you."  
"Maybe it's just some lingering after effects from the labyrinth."  
"We've been out for a year.  Are you sure it's nothing else?"  When Jongin doesn't answer he sighs.  "You don't have to tell me now, but when you're ready I'm here.  In the mean time, rest up.  Who's next?"  
"Probably Minseok.  This is a pretty far jump, but he might be closer than Zitao in Barcelona."  
"Berlin it is.  You're staying for a week, right?"

 

It's laced with a question, but Jongin knows it's not.  He nods and Yixing smiles as he leaves Jongin to prepare for dinner.

 

The week flies by, Yixing feeding him constantly and making sure he has the energy to make it to Berlin without consequence.  He says he is, and the knowing look in Yixing's eyes tell him he knows he's lying.  No amount of food is going to replace the energy he's lost.  He doesn't even know how to replace it himself, or where he's pulling from now.  Still, the air ripples around him and he soon finds himself in Berlin, immediately vomiting on the concrete he landed on.

 

The first thing he notices is how cold it is in Berlin, but he doesn't know if that's from the weather or from Minseok.  Air around Minseok is always a few degrees cooler that air around others, and a lot colder than the air around Chanyeol.  The cold hand on his shoulder makes him jump, groaning and immediately falling back into Minseok's waiting arms.

 

"Yixing warned me this would happen."  
"It's no fun if you know I'm coming..."  
"And it won't be fun for Zitao when you get to him after me.  Let's go."

 

He's shuffled into Minseok's worn-down studio and placed on one of the only pieces of furniture he owns.  The couch is ratty, much like the rest of the place, and the television only plays one channel--static.  He welcomes the white-noise of the static though as Minseok return with water, aspirin, and a washcloth to wipe his mouth with.

 

"Please tell me you've figured out what's making you sick."  
"Food poisoning?"  It worked for Jongdae.  Maybe it would work for Minseok.  
"Bull shit.  Yixing would have cleared that up."  
"Then I don't have an answer for you," he responds as he pops the aspirin.  There isn't a headache this time, but he takes them out of habit from the past.  
"Jongin, you're stressing your body out with all this travel."  
He wipes his face down and sips on the remaining water in his glass.  "I'll rest while I'm in London.  No more traveling, I promise."  
"Just...take it easy here, okay?  We're all stressed, but you bouncing from place to place can't be good."  
"I'm fine, hyung."

 

Except he's not fine.  Jongin knows something is wrong, but he can't admit to anything until he knows what it is himself.  But he does take it easy in Berlin, spending his week resting and eating when Minseok wakes him up.  Minseok doesn't mention the vomiting again, and looks pleased when there's color back in his face when he sets off to Barcelona.

 

"Zitao knows you're coming."  
"You're no fun, hyung."  
"Neither are you when you're sick."  Minseok smiles as he pats Jongin on the shoulders.  "Be careful."

 

Jongin nods and Minseok steps back as the air cracks and splits for Jongin to walk through.  The trip to Barcelona should be easy.  It's closer than the travel from Yunnan to here, and Minseok took good care of him while in Berlin.  He actually feels well enough to make the trip.

 

Only he lands in Barcelona violently, Zitao immediately rushing to his side.  His chest tightens and his vision blurs, the migraine is back ten-fold, but the contents of his stomach stay.  He falls to his knees, clutching onto Zitao blindly as he tries to regain his bearings.  He feels the worst he has in the few months he's been traveling back and forth between countries, between the others.  He feels like he's dying.

 

It clicks.

 

He blocks out Zitao's panicked words as the events of the last year replay through his mind.  The breakout, the accident in Vancouver, the connection falling to pieces, and all the pain he'd been enduring since then.

 

He feels like he's dying because he is dying, and he hates himself a little for not figuring it out sooner.  The energy from teleporting had to come from somewhere, and since he can't pull from other humans anymore it makes sense that he's pulling from himself.  The reality of the damage he's done to himself sinks in, and he finally snaps out of his daze when Zitao shakes him.

 

"Jongin?!  Jongin!"  
He blinks as Zitao grabs the sides of his face.  "Tao?"  
Zitao sighs and pulls him in for a hug.  "Thank God....we just lost Yifan and Lu Han, please don't make us lose you too."  
"It's okay, Tao.  I'm not going anywhere."  
"Damn right you aren't going anywhere," Zitao snapped as he pulled Jongin up.  "Let's get you someplace more comfortable.  We need to talk."  
Jongin sighs as he's led further into Zitao's place and dropped onto the couch.  "I'm fine."  
"Bullshit," Zitao throws at him in Mandarin, but Jongin has been around him long enough to at least know that word.  Zitao quickly switches back to Korean.  "Minseok warned me about you getting sick, not about nearly passing out as soon as you land."  
"And I told him-"  
"That you'd rest in London, I know," Zitao sounds frustrated as he finishes Jongin's sentence.  "Look, we're all on edge.  Yifan and Lu Han aren't around anymore, and so when you pop up and violently get sick on us we're going to be concerned.  The hyungs may have babied you, but I'm sure as hell not.  We're scared.  We're all scared."  
"I'm not dying, Tao..."  Lies.  
"I know you aren't, but you can't blame me or any of us for jumping to that conclusion.  Besides, that's not what I even wanted to talk to you about."

 

Zitao walked away briefly before coming back and sitting next to Jongin, newspaper in hand.  He passed it of and Jongin's eyes immediately flit over the main headline.

 

"I can't read this, Zitao."  
"You don't have to.  I've been in Spain long enough to pick up that that article is about us."  
Jongin jerked his attention back to Zitao.  "What do you mean?"  
"It's talking about comets, but there are things in there that line up too close for it not to be coincidence."  Zitao took the paper back and started pointing at the pictures.  "See that date?  You dropped me off first, remember?"  
"That was a year ago, why is it coming up now?"  
"Maybe they were digging around more before publishing it, but it's there.  And on this page," Zitao flips it over to where the article continues, "talks about a flood in Marseilles that happened last week."  
"Joonmyun was fine when I left him a month ago..."  Jongin can feel the panic in his chest.  
"I haven't heard from him lately, but we would have felt something if something had happened to him," Zitao assures.  "But you have to lay low after this.  Stories are popping up now, and we can't risk getting caught."

 

Jongin nods and Zitao throws the paper across the room, where is stayed for the entire week he spent in Barcelona.  He reassures Zitao that he'll be staying in London for a very long time until they get the word to move out.  Zitao isn't entirely convinced, but he takes what he can get and sends Jongin off with a hug.

 

That was a month ago, and Jongin curses as he's still no closer to figuring out anything as he rounds the corner of Big Ben, the camera still going off behind him.  He needs to lose the cameraman, and he risks phasing to the roof of the National Gallery just to escape for a moment.  He feels the wet trickle down the front of his face and he pays no mind as he wipes it off on the back of his hand.

 

Blood.

 

Jongin stares down at the stain and curses.  He was fading faster than he realized.

 

He jumped as his phone vibrated in his pocket.  One message from Joonmyun, one word only.

 

_Pathcode._

 

Jongin pocketed his phone again, and with one last look over his shoulder, he phases again.

 

The camera shutter clicks.


End file.
